Inter-Municipal Methodology for Climate Transition Strategies: The First Case in Italy

Abstract

To build resilient and climate-neutral cities, it is required to modify current territorial planning processes to make them more sustainable and virtuous. However, the implementation of new strategies and innovative governance models faces multiple obstacles, economic restrictions, and technical gaps. In particular, local governments often find it difficult to build structured transition processes. This article investigates how it is possible to respond effectively to the need of urban contexts to adapt to climate impacts, analyzing the case of the Climate Transition Strategy (CTS) “La Brianza Cambia Clima”, the first in Italy of this kind. Through the technical framework and the methodology described, the CTS can activate inter-municipal transformative actions through the mainstreaming of planning tools, the construction of a medium-long-term vision, and the identification of concrete and widespread actions to be implemented in the territory. This coordinated and shared strategic approach allows one to give stability, coherence, and continuity to adaptation processes involving different stakeholders and sectors of the Public Administration. Finally, it favors the implementation of multidisciplinary policies for territorial resilience on a large scale.

Climate Change Prevention through Community Actions and Empowerment: A Scoping Review

“…The selected studies had “community settings” as an inclusion criteria requirement, hence we can confirm that 55,6% of the studies selected for inclusion focused on community contexts [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 42 , 43 ], and the remainder of them were specifically targeted to urban settings [ 2 , 8 , 13 , 18 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 38 , 39 , 44 ]. Rural contexts were excluded due to inclusion criteria.…”

“…Only 6 of these 27 studies used interviews as a qualitative method [ 13 , 17 , 19 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Three studies were systematic reviews [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], three were case-study analyses [ 18 , 32 , 33 ], another three used surveys and questionnaires as quantitative methods [ 34 , 35 , 36 ], two used integrative baseline reviews [ 2 , 37 ] and another three studies utilized a process model design as a method [ 20 , 38 , 39 ]. In eight studies [ 15 , 20 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 31 , 35 , 40 ], the main aim was to assess public health adaptive approaches and preparedness to tackle climate change; in five studies [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 27 , 34 ], the main aim was to discuss current city policies and solutions on the topic.…”

“…Below, and following Bardin’s [ 45 ] concept of “ categories a posteriori ”, readers may find a synthesis obtained once results were interpreted, with a presentation of inferences in the form of final categories for community actions contributing to the empowerment of communities, found in the present review. (Please refer to Scheme 2 ): Actions of political scope [ 8 , 13 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 37 , 40 , 43 , 44 ] (local, regional, national, and European) are referred to in 17 of the selected studies; mainly, these actions include top-down interventions such as city management and planning, local/regional/national/European policies and control, recommendations, energy solutions, urban planning (street widths, off-street trails for cyclists and pedestrians, neighbourhood playgrounds and parks, sporting and recreational facilities), implementation of policies that support physical activity and active living, improved laws and traffic safety, adaptative measures to extreme weather and other climate variability, projects to protect residents, integration of nature-based solutions that improve microclimate, limit urban heat and improve air quality, increasing green urban spaces, promote active transport, fiscal and regulatory measures, underground parking, leisure parks, flood defences, review flood maps, review cooling capacity on local facilities and backup generators, review insurance policies, claiming leadership, implementing low carbon society, work in partnership with multistakeholder groups, translate science to lay audience, evaluate local adaptation plans, improve public transport networks, mandatory vehicle inspections, road charges, reduce speed of vehicles, and walking to school policies, among others. Actions of community scope [ 2 , 8 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 26 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 3...…”

Mainstreaming climate resilience: A GIS-based methodology to cope with cloudbursts in Turin, Italy

“…In other words, if the methodology in planning and regulatory practice is relevant per se , it needs to be integrated with planning tools to become effective. As outlined by several authors (Litt et al, 2022), mainstreaming is become central to the process of climate resilience only when it is combined integrated into existing planning tools from the local to territorial scale. A practical example of this “integration” between analysis and practice could be obtained by comparing urban regulatory zones and cloudburst vulnerable areas to help the public decision-maker structure the right adaptation actions at the normative level at the local level.…”

Reinterpreting Spatial Planning Cultures to Define Local Adaptation Cultures: A Methodology from the Central Veneto Region Case

“…The preparation, adoption, and implementation of climate transition processes is a profound innovation whose success depends largely on the ability of governments and local communities to take on board the objectives and indications that they develop and promote. Therefore, the purpose of the proposed capacity-building activities is the consolidation, expansion, and dissemination of technical expertise [38]. -Self-completion of the questionnaire by the municipalities and collective validation: the analysis asked the participants to fill out an online questionnaire in which they described the adaptation measures included in the plans, recognised according to some categories.…”